Cray Research sold a super computer to the Max Planck Institute in Germany on credit and invoiced

1. Cray Research sold a super computer to the Max Planck Institute in Germany on credit and invoiced DM 10 million payable in six months. Currently, the six-month forward exchange rate is $1.50/DM and the foreign exchange advisor for Cray Research predicts that the spot rate is likely to be $1.43 in six  months.

(a) What is the expected gain/loss from the forward hedging?

(b) If you were the financial manager of Cray Research, would you recommend hedging this DM receivable?  Why or why not?

 

(c) Suppose the foreign exchange advisor predicts that the future spot rate will be the same as the forward exchange rate quoted today. Would you recommend hedging in this case?  Why or why not?

 

2.  IBM purchased computer chips from NEC, a Japanese electronics concern, and was billed ¥250 million payable in three months. Currently, the spot  exchange rate is ¥105/$ and the three-month forward rate is ¥100/$. The three-month money market interest rate is 8 percent per annum in the U.S. and 7 percent per annum in Japan. The management of IBM decided to use the money market hedge to deal with this yen account payable.

(a) Explain the process of a money market hedge and compute the dollar cost of meeting the yen obligation.

(b) Conduct the cash flow analysis of the money market hedge.

 

 3.  You plan to visit Geneva, Switzerland in three months to attend an international business conference. You expect to incur the total cost of SF 5,000 for lodging, meals and transportation during your stay. As of today, the spot exchange rate is $0.60/SF and the three-month forward rate is $0.63/SF. You can buy the three-month call option on SF with the exercise rate of $0.64/SF for the premium of $0.05 per SF. Assume that your expected future spot exchange rate is the same as the forward rate. The three-month interest rate is 6 percent per annum in the United States and 4 percent per annum in Switzerland.

(a) Calculate your expected dollar cost of buying SF5,000 if you choose to hedge via call option on SF.

(b) Calculate the future dollar cost of meeting this SF obligation if you decide to hedge using a forward contract.

(c) At what future spot exchange rate will you be indifferent between the forward and option market hedges?

(d) Illustrate the future dollar costs of meeting the SF payable against the future spot exchange rate under both the options and forward market hedges.

 

4. McDonnell Douglas just signed a contract to sell a DC 10 aircraft to Air France. Air France will be billed FF50 million which is payable in one year. The current spot exchange rate is $0.20/FF and the one-year forward rate is $0.19/FF. The annual interest rate is 6.0% in the U.S. and 9.5% in France. McDonnell Douglas is concerned with the volatile exchange rate between the dollar and the franc and would like to hedge exchange exposure.

(a) It is considering two hedging alternatives: sell the franc proceeds from the sale forward or borrow francs from the Credit Lyonnaise against the franc receivable. Which alternative would you recommend? Why?

 

(b) Other things being equal, at what forward exchange rate would McDonnell Douglas be indifferent between the two hedging methods?

 

5.  Suppose that Baltimore Machinery sold a drilling machine to a Swiss firm and gave the Swiss client a choice of paying either $10,000 or SF 15,000 in three months.

(a) In the above example, Baltimore Machinery effectively gave the Swiss client a free option to buy up to $10,000 dollars using Swiss franc. What is the ‘implied’ exercise exchange rate?

(b) If the spot exchange rate turns out to be $0.62/SF, which currency do you think the Swiss client will choose to use for payment? What is the value of this free option for the Swiss client?

 

(c) What is the best way for Baltimore Machinery to deal with the exchange exposure?

 

6.  Princess Cruise Company (PCC) purchased a ship from Mitsubishi Heavy Industry. PCC owes Mitsubishi Heavy Industry 500 million yen in one year. The current spot rate is 124 yen per dollar and the one-year forward rate is 110 yen per dollar. The annual interest rate is 5% in Japan and 8% in the U.S. PCC can also buy a one-year call option on yen at the strike price of $.0081 per yen for a premium of .014 cents per yen.

(a) Compute the future dollar costs of meeting this obligation using the money market hedge and the forward hedges.

(b) Assuming that the forward exchange rate is the best predictor of the future spot rate, compute the expected future dollar cost of meeting this obligation when the option hedge is used.

 

(c) At what future spot rate do you think PCC may be indifferent between the option and forward hedge?